As a whole, the Qur’an’s thematic content is both very similar to and distinctly different from that of the Tanakh and New Testament.
The text represents Islam as being based on Jewish and Christian traditions, and portrays Muhammad as the most recent in a line of prophets beginning with Adam and ending with Jesus and John the Baptist.
Muslims, however, generally maintain that Jewish and Christian teachings and scriptures have been distorted and corrupted/ subject to inaccuracies over time, all of which the Qur’an corrects.
The Qur’an itself, *however, seems to offer a great deal of contradictory information regarding this matter: some portions suggest that the Torah[96] and Gospels are valid and that “People of the [Abrahamic religions’] Book(s)” (i.e. Jews, Christians, etc.) are eligible for salvation, while other portions seem to suggest that the very opposite / seem to indicate that the contrary is true.
In 2:62, it says, “Those who believe [in Islam], and those who are Jews, Christians, and Sabians—whoever believes in God and the Last Day, and acts righteously, they will have their reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.”
So here it seems to state that—in addition to Muslim—Jews, Christians, and Sabians are also eligible for salvation.
In 2:136, it says, “Say [O Muhammad / Muslims]: ‘We believe in God and what was revealed to us and to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and what was received by Moses and Jesus, and what prophets received from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them?’”
This seems to affirm the validity of earlier revelations recorded by the Jews and Christians.
In 3:3, it says, “He [God] has revealed unto you the Book with truth [the Qur’an], confirming what was [revealed] before it; and He [God] has revealed the Torah and the Gospel, a guide for people, and he sent the Criterion [for right and wrong].”
So here the Qur’an seems to specifically affirm the validity and authority of the Torah and Gospels.
In 10:37, it says, “And this Qur’an is not such as can be produced by other than God, but is a confirmation of what was [revealed] before it, and a fuller explanation of the Book in which there is no doubt in it, from YHWH of the Worlds.”
Here the Qur’an again seems to say that it is a confirmation of earlier revelations.
In 4:136, it says, “O you who believe! Believe in God and His Messenger [Muhammad] and the Book [Qur’an] that He has revealed to His Messenger, and the Book He has revealed before. Whoever disbelieves in God and His angels and His Books and His Messengers and the Last Day—he indeed has wandered far astray.”
This passage seems to tell Muslims to believe the Books God revealed before the Qur’an.
In 10:94, it says, “And if you [Muhammad] were in doubt regarding what We [God] revealed to you, then ask those who read the Book [revealed] before you. Surely, the truth from your Lord has come to you—so do not be one of the disputers.”
So here Muhammad is advised to consult with “those who read the Book [revealed] before you” if he is in doubt about what God had revealed to him, and he is also told “not be one of the disputers.”
In 5:44-48, it says, “Lo! We [God] revealed the Torah, wherein is guidance and light, by which the prophets who submitted [to God] judged the Jews, and the rabbis and the law doctors were required to guard and observe God’s Book. So do not fear man, but fear Me [God]. And do not sell My revelations for a little gain. Whoever does not judge by what God has revealed—they are unbelievers.
“And We [God] prescribed to them therein, life for life, and eye for eye, and nose for nose, and ear for ear, and tooth for tooth, and retaliation for wounds. But who forgoes it, it shall be expiation for him. Those who do not judge by what God has revealed—they are wrongdoers.
“And We [God] sent Jesus, son of Mary, to follow in their footsteps, confirming what was [revealed] before him in the Torah; and We [God] gave him the Gospel wherein is guidance and light, confirming what was [revealed] before it in the Torah: a guidance and an admonition unto those who guard [against evil].
“Let the People of the Gospel judge by what God has revealed therein. Who does not judge by what God has revealed—they are transgressors.
“And to you have We [God] revealed the Book with the truth [the Qur’an], confirming the Book that came before it, and watching over it. So judge between them by what God has revealed, and do not follow their desires going away from the truth that has come to you.
“For each We [God] have appointed a law and a way. If God had willed, He would have made you a single community. But [He did not so that He could] test you in what He has given you. So endeavor among each other in all virtues. Unto God you will all return, and He will show you of what you differ.”
So here the Qur’an again seems to state that the Torah and the Gospels are valid, and even adds, “Let the People of the Gospel judge by what God has revealed therein,” and that God has given a different law and way for different communities.
29:46 has a similar message, and says, “And do not argue with the People of the Book except through what is best, unless it is with those who do wrong. And say, ‘We believe in what has been revealed to us and revealed to you; our God and your God is One, and to Him we surrender.’”
In 5:65-70 again has a similar message, saying, “If only the People of the Book had believed, and guarded [against evil], We [God] surely would have remitted their sins from them and brought them into Gardens of bliss.
“If they had observed the Torah and the Gospel and what was revealed to them from their Lord, they surely would have been nourished from above them and from beneath their feet. Among them is a group who are on the moderate way, but most of them do evil.
“O Messenger [Muhammad]! Proclaim what has been revealed to you from your Lord. If you do not, you will not have expressed His message, and God will not protect you from the people. God does not guide the unbelievers.
“Say, ‘O People of the Book! You have nothing until you observe the Torah and the Gospel and all what was revealed to you from your Lord.’ What was revealed unto you from your Lord will increase the transgression and unbelief of many of them. But do not grieve for the unbelieving people.
“Those who believe [in Islam], who are Jews, Sabians, and Christians—anybody who believes in God and the Last Day, and is righteous, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.
“We [God] made a covenant of old with the Children of Israel and We [God] sent them Messengers. Whenever a Messenger came to them with what their souls did not desire, some [of them] they called liars, and others they slew.”
So here Muhammad is told to tell the People of the Book to observe the Torah and the Gospel. And once again, it is stated that Jews, Christians, and Sabians are eligible for salvation—but it also says that most but not all of them are on the wrong path.
In 3:113-115, it says, “They are not all alike; of the People of the Book, there is a group that stands [for what is right], who recites the revelations of God at night, and falls prostrate [to God]. They believe in God and the Last Day, and they enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong, and race one another in good deeds. They are among the righteous. And whatever good they do, they will not be denied. God knows those who guard [against evil].”
Once again, this seems to affirm the recorded revelations of “People of the Book” {Jews, Christians, Sabians) and their eligibility for salvation; and it also says that only a portion of them stands for what is right.
Indeed, all of the passages so far seem to indicate that the Qur’an affirms the authority and validity of the Gospel and Torah, that People of the Book like Jews, Christians, and Sabians are eligible for salvation, that some of them follow the right way, and that God advises certain people to study and follow the Torah and Gospel.
But in 3:31-32 it says, “Say [O Muhammad to mankind]: ‘If you love God, follow me. God will love you and forgive you your sins—God is Forgiving, Merciful.’ Say, ‘Obey God and his Messenger [Muhammad].’ But if they turn away, God does not love unbelievers [in Islam].
So now the Qur’an seems to say that God only loves believers in Islam who obey what Muhammad said.
And then in other parts of the text, it is stated directly or indirectly that Jews and Christians might have perverted the truth.
2:75-79 says, “Do you [believers in Islam] have any hope that they will believe in you, when a party amongst them used to listen to the word of God, and then altered it knowingly after they had understood it?
“And when they meet those who believe [in Islam] they say, ‘We believe,’ but when they are in private among one another, they say, ‘Shall you tell them of what God disclosed to you, that they may contend with you about this before your Lord? Do you then not understand?’
“Do they not know that God knows what they keep hidden and what they proclaim? And among them are illiterates who do not know the book except from hearsay, and they only guess. Woe to those who write the Book with their [own] hands, and then say, ‘This is from God,’ so that they may sell it for a small gain. Woe to them for what their hands have written, and woe to them for what they earn.”
3:77-78 says, “As for those who sell God’s covenant and their oaths for a small gain, they shall have no portion in the Hereafter. God will not speak to them or look upon them on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He purify them. They will have a painful penalty.
“There surely is a party amongst them who distorts the Book with their tongues, that you may think that it is from the Book, but it is not from the Book. And they say, ‘It is from God,’ when it is not from God; and they knowingly lie against God.”
3:187 says, “And remember God took a Covenant from the People of the Book, to make it known and clear to mankind, and not to hide it; but they threw it away behind their backs, and purchased with it some miserable gain! And vile was the bargain they made!”
5:12-15 says, “God made a covenant of old with the Children of Israel, and We [God] raised among them twelve captains, and God said: ‘I am with you. If you establish prayer, practice charity, and believe in My messengers and support them, and offer God a kindly gift, I will remit your sins, and bring you into Gardens with rivers flowing beneath. But whoever among you disbelieves—he indeed will go astray from the right way.’
“But due to their breaking of their covenant, We [God] have cursed them, and made their hearts hard. They change words from their places, and neglect a part of what they were admonished. You will not cease to discover treachery in them except for a few of them. But pardon them and turn [their wrong] away, for God loves the kind.
“And with those who say, ‘We are Christians,’ We [God] made a covenant, but they neglected a part of what they were admonished. Therefore, We [God] have excited enmity and hatred among them, to the day of resurrection, and God will inform them of what they did.
“O People of the Book! Our Messenger [Muhammad] has indeed come to you, revealing much that you used to hide in the Book, and passing over much. There now has come to you, light and a clear book [the Qur’an] from God.”
5:41 says, “O Messenger [Muhammad]! Do not be grieved by those who strive together going towards unbelief, of such who say with their mouths, ‘We believe,’ but with their hearts do not believe, and among the Jews, listeners for the sake of lies, listeners of others who have not come to you, changing words from their places, saying, ‘If this is given to you, receive it, but if not, then beware.’
“He whom God intends to be tempted, you cannot avail him at all against God. They are those who God does not will to purify their hearts. They will have disgrace in the world, and an awful doom in the Hereafter.”
Muslims often use passages like these to conclude that Jewish and Christian scriptures have been corrupted.
However, if this is true, then don’t these passages contradict all of the numerous other passages in this section that affirm the Torah and Gospels, advise certain people to follow them, and state that the People of the Book (Jews, Christians, and Sabians) are eligible for salvation, and that many of them follow the right path?
[96] Keep in mind that the term Torah in the Qur?an and in much of the world is often used to refer to the entire Tanakh